Right basically i have a mate whose well into hardcore metal and stuff, and he is obsessed with it. He constantly goes on about how 'brutal' a song is, and how this is basically the highest level of musical enjoyment.

When i said alternative i generalised a bit and pretty much meant 'clever' music or generally good quality, different music - what a DiSer would listen to. The stuff that you can't just jump into and start understanding why its so brilliant and enjoying it straight away, if you had been listening to the charts all your life.

What i'm looking for here is an argument on the side of the 'alternative' music. An explanation as to why, in a lot of peoples opinion on this website and mine, that not everything has to be about riffs which are 'brutal'.

Btw i've always appreciated metal fans for their dedication to their music and can appreciate some of it (metallica for example).

And i'm not saying everyone on here is listening to 'alternative' music. And i know alternative is a very vague poor term in many ways.

(A lot of back covering there)